"on one hand ” or “on the one hand "

[sophia.]

Dear teachers ,
When I was writing an essay last Sunday ,I came across a problem . Ifound it difficult to choose between “on one hand ” and “on the one hand ” whenI was writing the second paragraph .Could you please help me ?
As far as I am concerned , both of the two statements are reasonable .On the basis of my grammar , the article “the ”can be omitted in thisexpression if we are willing to . So if we are in pursuit of convenience , wecan choose the former expression ; the latter one is definitely right for thepurpose of integration .
Above is my personal opinion , would you please give me your insight ? Iwould appreciate it if you can give me a hand . Finally , let me restate myconfusion ,”on one hand ” or “on the one hand ” , which one is right in thecourse of our daily English learning ?
Thanks very much .
Yours sincerely
Sophia

 

[SoothingDave]

"On the one hand" is the expression. Then "on the other hand."

You need to work on your punctuation and spacing. No space between the final word and the period or question mark that ends a sentence. Then one space. Then the next sentence. Just like I am doing.

Same with commas. For example, I just put no space before that comma and used one space after it.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Mona is not sure whether she should marry James. On the one hand, he is very nice. On the other hand, however, he is not too intelligent.

Mona: How many real friends do you have?
James: Not many.
Mona: How many?
James: I can count them on one hand.
Mona: Oh, I see. You have one or two or three or four or maybe even five real friends.
James: That's right!
Mona: So what's the exact number?
James: I'm not telling you.



James

 

[sophia.]

SoothingDave , thanks a million. For I am just a college student, please forgive me for my mistake when using this web. Nobody even told me how to use these punctuations correctly when writing in English. We chinese student pay little attention to it, Thanks for your kindness in correct my mistake.
Additionally, do you mean "on one hand " is totally erroneous when used in the second paragraph of our essay to pose our illustrations? If so, thanks again for clarify my misunderstanding.
Looking forward to your reply.
Yours sincerely
Sophia

 

[sophia.]

TheParser, thanks for your reply, your illustration is both concise and convincing. As a studeht who is eager to know the absolutely right answer, could you please tell me if the article "the" is indispensible in the expression when used to pose our argumentations? I would appreciate it if you can give me a hand.
Hope you a happy day.
Yours sincerely
Sophia

 

[Rover_KE]

Sophia, click here and you will see some evidence that 'on one hand' is not completely wrong.

 

[sophia.]

Rover_KE,Thanks for your kindness. I feel sorry to say that I can't open your web, and I don't know why. Maybe the problem lies in the erratic Internet of our school. I am now desperate to see what the page shows, what a pity I can't. In a word , thank you very much.

 

[Tdol]

could you please tell me if the article "the" is indispensible in the expression when used to pose our argumentations?

I don't think so. (BrE speaker)

 

[sophia.]

Tdol, Thanks a lot. If both of them are right, then which one do we use more often or which one is more formal?
Looking forward to your reply.

 

[SoothingDave]

It sounds odd to me without the "the." We are contrasting "the one hand" with "the other hand." We would never say "on other hand."

 

[sophia.]

Thank you. Can we say "on one hand...on the other"?

 

[SoothingDave]

Thank you. Can we say "on one hand...on the other"?

I would not.

 

[sophia.]

SoothingDave, thank you so much.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Sophia:


After reading all the posts and checking my books and the Web, this is my advice to you:

1. When doing formal writing, you should probably include "the" (my example):

"On the one hand, that university has a beautiful campus. On the other hand, that university has very low academic standards."

In my opinion, the first "the" lends balance to the second "the." Each expression consists of four words. The rhythm makes for a pleasant sound.

2. As the moderator and as the editor reminded us, however, some speakers find that "the" is, indeed, optional.

a. The very reputable American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language says in its 1969 print edition that "the" is optional.

b. I then checked The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms (2013) in the "books" section of Google. It also says that the idiom is either "On the one hand" or "On one hand."

3. By the way, I have lost the reference, but -- yes -- some speakers would have no trouble with dropping the second "hand" (my example)

"On (the) one hand, it's nice to have so much information on the Web. On the other, too much information can overwhelm us."

(In formal writing, however, I would use the second "hand.")



James

 

[sophia.]

TheParser, I really thank you so much for your help and zeal. Your explaination is very clear and convincing. Now I can totally understand it. Thanks again for your assistance. May you happy every day.

 

[ohmyrichard]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Sophia:


After reading all the posts and checking my books and the Web, this is my advice to you:

Hi, James. You did a marvelous job in explaining this language issue to Sophia. After reading it, I've also got a thorough understanding of how to use these two slightly different structures. Thanks a lot.